Posts tagged games

In case you haven’t heard the news, Harmonix announced today (at about 5:30 in the morning..) that they’re ready for their encore! The Rock Bands games 1-3 were once a staple in friendly-get-together fun for gamers for years. It seemed the project was all but abandoned after the market was a little too saturated with at-home music games a few years ago, but we’re very happy to hear it’s been revived!

The new game will be released for current gen consoles (PS4 and Xbox ONE), however the good news is that if you have an older gen console of the same type, your DLCs and previous game codes should work for the new game and new console. This will not work for changing platforms (ie: going from PS3 to the Xbox ONE), but that’s pretty understandable. Harmonix is also working with Mad Catz to get older instruments working with the new systems/game, but no promises have been made there yet.

They will be introducing new instruments for the new consoles. Details have not been formally announced yet, with the exception of a Penny Arcade-themed guitar. This special guitar will be available for pre-order if you visit the Harmonix booth at PAX East this weekend in person, and reserve it there. Info on the PAX East pre-order as well as general info on the RB4 announcement is available here:

I don’t know about you guys, but I hope this means that Rock Band competitions will start popping up again. I will OWN that with Somebody to Love. And I think this accurate describes our excitement over the announcement:

How many games do you have sitting your shelf that you’ve already played through, and barely even look at anymore? And how many games are there that you’ve been wanting to play – maybe even for years – but you just can’t justify the purchase of them, perhaps even because of the collection you already have? Of course you can trade in old games to corporate companies like GameStop or Best Buy, and even purchase used games. But let’s be honest.. that’s kind of a rip. They don’t give you much for your trade-in, and turn around and sell it as used for more than twice as much.

This is exactly the conundrum a group of gamers was discussing over at Reddit a while back, and developed it into a solution. Now, you can head over to 99gamers.com to trade your games one-on-one with other gamers, and receive and pay amounts much closer to the game’s value. Personally, I love this idea. It’s a process that’s been much-needed in the gaming community for quite a while, and it’s finally here. To hear more about the service, we recently contacted Brandon Kruzeniski of 99Gamers for some questions.

NiB- What is 99gamers.com?BK- 99Gamers is a video game trading community. Members use 99Gamers as a platform to trade directly with each other. Members add their unwanted video games and sell them to other members for a virtual currency called ‘coins’ which are valued at $1 per coin. Members can then spend their earned coins on other games.

NiB- What is your role on the site?

BK- I’m one of the founders of 99Gamers with the other being my brother Jon.

NiB- I hear you got your start from a post on Reddit. Can you elaborate on that?

BK- I originally got the idea for a video game trading site when I came across a post on Reddit about how someone would shoot darts at their game collection to choose which game they would play next. I realized that this random person had a bunch of games that I would love to play but just haven’t had the chance to. I turned to my game collection and thought that this person would probably feel the same way about my game collection.

I was also tired of getting ripped off by GameStop, knowing they would turn around and sell the game for double the next day. I knew other video game trading sites existed, but none of them were what I wanted them to be.

I wasn’t sure how many people would be interested in something like this so I decided to post it to Reddit and see what the response was like. I was thinking maybe a few hundred people would see it and I’d be able to get some feedback on the idea, but within a few hours the post was at the top of r/gaming and even hit the front page for a while, resulting in thousands of signups. I then knew enough people felt the same way I did so I went forward with the site.

NiB- How can it help the gaming community?

BK- First, we save people a lot of money. Trading on the site is completely free so you’ll really start to see the savings add up quickly. 99Gamers is built by gamers for gamers with the sole intention of getting more value out of your game collection. We are a platform for gamers to trade directly with each other so the middle man can be cut out. Many people feel like they get ripped off when using trade-in services so 99Gamers can be used as that alternative.

I’ve also found that because you have access to such a large game library you are more inclined to try out games you may have not given a chance before. You are then more likely to purchase the sequel when it comes out. For example I hadn’t played the Dead Space series yet but after getting the games through 99Gamers I ended up buying Dead Space 3 new.

NiB- Have you gotten any backlash from corporate gaming companies?

BK- We haven’t received any backlash at all. We’re still fairly new and have been mostly underground so it’s doubtful they know about us yet.

NiB- From what I understand, you just came out of beta. How has membership grown since then?

BK- We came out of beta about two months ago and we’re starting to pick up momentum. Just last week, it was nine months since I originally posted about the idea on Reddit so I did a follow up post about our progress so far. We ended up hitting the front page again which resulted in us more than doubling our user base within 24 hours. We went from having 2,300 members to now almost 6,000.

NiB- Has this project been received well by the gaming community?

BK- Yes, I believe it has been received quite well. Both Reddit posts reached the front page which shows many people share the same feelings of not wanting to get ripped off by trade-in offers. When members trade directly with one another games can be offered at a lower value and people tend to appreciate knowing that their games will be going to a good home.

NiB- Are there any particular games trending on the site right now?

BK- Assassin’s Creed III and Far Cry 3 have been popular over the last few months. Now that the new Tomb Raider is out it usually gets picked up quite quickly. Pokémon games are of course always popular as everyone loves playing them. I’ve found people will often buy every game in a series together. The Mass Effect series has been very popular in the past.

NiB- Are there any games you’re hoping get put up so you can nab them?

BK- I actually had a list of games I had wanted when I came up with the idea and wouldn’t allow myself to get them through anywhere but 99Gamers. A few I’ve gotten are Kingdom Hearts, Max Payne 3, Pokémon SoulSilver and Assassin’s Creed II. One that I hadn’t yet received was Just Cause 2 but after the Reddit post last week I managed to grab it and it’s now on its way!

NiB- Any future project plans for the site?

BK- Up next we’ll be adding PC games and digital codes. The search, browse and profile pages are getting a much improved new look. These will help members discover new and interesting games faster. Down the road we plan on adding consoles and gaming accessories into the mix as well as some more exciting features. Our main goal continues to make buying and selling games as easy as possible so our members can spend more time playing games.

You can visit 99Gamers here: http://99gamers.com – Hopefully you’ll find something you’ve been wanting. Let us know how it goes!

How many hours a week do you spend playing games? Any games. From simple little time-wasters on your mobile phone, to completely engrossing RPGs involving putting together missions and raids with fellow gamers. What if those hours you spend building and changing virtual worlds could actually be applied to the problems in our every day life? This is the basis for Jane McGonigal’s Reality is Broken.

As a long-time game developer, McGonigal has had the chance to examine, first hand, how gaming can become a very huge part of a person’s every day life. In Reality is Broken, we explore how this is not only a growing trend, but how it can be a very positive one. While non-gamers have always been critical of gaming, there are very clear perks to the lessons gaming teaches us. A particularly interesting fact McGonigal expresses through her research is what she calls ‘the four super powers’ that a person develops through gaming regularly. These include: urgent optimism, social fabric, blissful productivity, and epic meaning. This pretty much means that by being a regular gamer, a person can be their own highly-motivational pep rally, make connections, build trust, and learn team-building skills by working with other gamers, be legitimately happy about putting forth all of this effort, and feel like they’re making a difference. All of these skills are things you just don’t get in the real world very often these days. You don’t get to level up by taking the trash out or recycling. There are no one-up mushrooms for helping old ladies cross the street. Beating your head on a brick definitely does not produce a ride-able miniature dinosaur. …..okay, so maybe nothing can be done about that last one.

The issue here is that by keeping all of these great developments restricted to virtual worlds, we’re taking all of this potential out of the real world, and keeping it smothered in lands of orcs and fairies. Meanwhile, we have issues that need to be addressed in reality. McGonigal’s suggestion to counter this is to create games that address real-world problems and offer legitimate solutions. Through this, we can not only train future generations to look at real solutions critically and creatively, but actually generate those answers quicker and more efficiently. A few games like this already exist. Consider Chore Wars, which is apparently a game similar to World of Warcraft, but played in real life, using daily, household chores as missions and achievements. Additionally, McGonigal, herself, has created three – yes, three! – games in which you address large, real-world problems in a fun, gaming setting. Games like World Without Oil, Superstruct, and Evoke are highly creative ways to brainstorm realistic solutions. Sort of makes you wonder if Left for Dead was actually a way to generate workable zombie plans, huh? To make this idea work, games would need to evolve in the right direction, and we’d all have to step it up on the amount of hours played.

Reality is Broken presents these views in a very thorough and thought-provoking manner. McGonigal offers well-researched scientific fact to back up all of the ideas expressed, and lays out a goal for the future that comes across as realistic and reachable. While the beginning of Reality is Broken is a little long-winded going over qualifications for making these statements, this does establish a trust between the author and reader. McGonigal offers a radical idea backed up by well-documented facts, and a realistic path to get there.

I would highly recommend taking a look at Jane McGonigal’s bio and qualifications, her speech on this topic presented through , and, of course, the actual book, Reality is Broken, now available on .

Warning: These reviews are moderately if not completely profane.

This past year has had it’s ups and downs and I have found that there have been many podcasts that I needed to get through a lot of the hard times. These mini reviews (which will be sporadic in coming up because my computer is dead and my internet access is limited) are my way of thanking five that have brought laughter into my life.

So thank you.

#4 Doug Loves Movies:
Doug Benson has to be the most productive stoner in the world. It’s amazing how much he ends up doing. In addition to his stand up, his BENSON INTERRUPTION theater extravaganzas and his fresh new viewing of the BENSON INTERRUPTION on Comedy Central, Doug has time to tell everyone that will listen how much he LOVES movies. His podcast originally started out as “I LOve Movies” but this year he changed to “Doug Loves Movies”.

In each episode he has a panel of people that talk about their love of movies or their complete lack of movie knowledge. The panelists are introduced and he’ll ask a few questions before they start playing games. They pick out people from the live audience to play for and the winner gets a bunch of stuff that all of the participants bring in.

Doug Benson, Samm Levine, Leonard Maltin, Morgan Murphy

Sometimes Doug will play the build a title movie game, but every week They play the Leonard Maltin game. He actually played the Leonard Maltin game WITH Leonard Maltin! (Don’t know what the game is? LISTEN AND YOU’LL KNOW!)

There is a reason why it is in my top five podcasts.

Check out Doug Love Movies on iTunesor add Doug Love Movies to your RSS feedor just pop over to the site and give it a listen

When Halo: Reach came out, I thought that would be enough to keep my better half entertained for a while and that we would be trading in our old XBox towards one of my games(namely Fallout: New Vegas)but alas I was mistaken.

Dead Rising 2 came out this past Tuesday and yours truly got sent to go and pick it up after I was sick for most of the day. This is not a game I would ever enjoy playing I don’t think but I have to say, the weapons you can create…they are EPIC with a side of AWESOME. My new personal favorite is the homemade lightsaber, created using a flashlight and gems…which you bust jewelry store cases to get to. The ridiculous amounts of zombie carnage warm my heart and make me giggle like I used to while mooning over a boy band at age 10. The story leaves something to be desired but the crazy weapon combos(like the IED made out of a propane tank and nails, or the 2x4s attached to a lawnmower which makes a very efficient zombie grinder), and the really sweet costumes were enough to make me actually put my iPhone down and watch the game.

It’s not one I’ll play…but I could watch my husband kill zombies with a smile on my face for hours…:)

To those of you ladies who are playing Halo: Reach, the guys of Achievement Hunter(Also the guys who bring you Red vs. Blue)are hosting a community playdate tonight from 8-10 Central time. I’ll be about, my Gamertag is Tenii87. Drop me a friend request or a party invite and I can show you my somewhat mad skills…well my slowly developing mad skills. 😛

Sparkles Fantastic’s post reminded me that there are two titles coming out next month that I am incredibly excited about.

1) FALLOUT NEW VEGAS: The long awaited next link in the Fallout franchise is almost here!!!! I am seriously looking forward to using my V.A.T.S. system to headshot Super Mutants and the new irradiated geckos!

Plus there’s a Super Mutant that seriously looks just like narrator Ron Perlman…for realz. Even though Obsidian is the big dog on this, it still has that Fallout look I got so used to in Fallout 3, the best game of 2008(IMHO). For me, it’s the most exciting release besides Halo: Reach and Fable III(which I’ll get to in a moment). It’s an RPG, which is my true calling when it comes to video games, I’ve played Oblivion enough times I can become the head of all the factions in less than a day of playing, and I can beat the game in less than 5 hours. I shine in RPGs like I decidedly don’t in FPS games. So this release is a

BIG DEAL for me. 2) Fable III: The other game that is making me anxious for October to hurry up and get here. I have my copy of this(and F:NV) on pre-order at my local game retailer and I am looking forward to being able to finding the villager I created with the Villager Maker in the game. Plus, I LOVE the way Fable looks. All of them. They are some of the prettiest games, and I am a huge fan of the whole medieval theme the game has going on.

Well that’s my video game news for today! Look for some more coming soon!

So today on Twitter I played a fun game with a fellow geek @GEEKLEETIST. We decided that there needed to be a Star Wars Hotel and we came up with a list of names for rooms, etc that would be in this hotel. We had some help from other lovely fellow geeks/nerds as well 🙂